Ukraine Still Perfect at World Teams

Ukraine tops the standings after three rounds at the World Team Championship in Kemer, Antalya (Turkey). After beating Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5, the team with Ivanchuk, Korobov, Moiseenko, Kryvoruchko and Areshchenko is the only one left with a perfect score. Armenia follows with one match point less.

Before we get to the third round, let's look at a few key games from round 1 and 2 which weren't mentioned here yet. For example, in the first round the big clash Armenia-Russia ended in four draws and on top board this match saw the game between the world's number 2 and 3! Here is that fascinating fight in the Botvinnik Semi-Slav with some brief notes by IMs Merijn van Delft and Robert Ris from CVO 256.

And here's another high-profile game from the same round; Ivanchuk's answer to Nakamura's Berlin was a transposition into a Spanish Four Knights.

After their big success against Russia, the USA went down 1.5-2.5 against Armenia the next day, in round 3. Kamsky-Movesian, Akopian-Onischuk and Akobian-Sargissan were all drawn, and so it was all about what happened on board one.

Aronian decides the match...

...beating Nakamura in a rook ending

Ukraine won its third match in a row, against Azerbaijan. Ivanchuk and Mamedov drew a fascinating King's Indian, Petrosian Variation:

Hozzászólások

Nakamura is a rather mercurial character... brilliant at times, volatile at other times... he needs more consistency in his game otherwise Carslen will take him to whipping school if they ever play in 2017 (his earliest chance at eligibility since 2015 is out of question)

Aronian has distanced himself a bit from third place (more than 20 points at the moment), but after that it's quite even on the rating list. A draw for Kramnik today would be enough for him to fall from third to fifth place.

Help us finish translating:

We are working hard to make Chess.com available in over 70 languages. Check back over the year as we develop the technology to add more, and we will try our best to notify you when your language is ready for translating!